15 Witnesses in the Case of David Tonoyan and Others, Only One Faced by Tonoyan: Lawyer

The appeal against the court’s decision to maintain the detention of former Minister of Defense David Tonoyan and to reject the application for his release on personal guarantees has been submitted. This was reported by lawyer Sergey Hovhannisyan in a conversation with "Factinfo".

The Yerevan Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Manvel Shahverdyan, reviewed the preventive measures for accused individuals in custody during the preparatory phase of the trial and decided to maintain the detention for former Minister of Defense David Tonoyan, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff Stepan Galstyan, businessman David Galstyan known as “Patron Davo” who deals with arms supply, and former head of the RA Armed Forces Aviation Avetik Muradyan. Meanwhile, Artem Hambaryan was released on bail.

It is noted that Tonoyan’s defense had requested personal guarantees be applied as a preventive measure for him, with assurances provided by Aram Zaven Sargsyan and two MPs from the "Civil Contract" party, Kristine Poghosyan and "Boat Rowing" Vilen Gabrielyan, while the defense teams of all other accused individuals in custody had requested either the removal of the preventive measures or their replacement with measures not related to deprivation of liberty, including bail.

Tonoyan's attorney Sergey Hovhannisyan informed that an appeal has been filed also contesting the presence of reasonable suspicion, although this phase of the investigation does not address reasonable suspicion considering that the indictment has been confirmed. However, the defense sees it necessary to raise this issue since, according to the lawyer, there is a multitude of evidence that refute Tonoyan’s involvement in the alleged crime.

Moreover, the only basis for the continued detention—risk of obstruction—has also been addressed. Hovhannisyan stated, "Interestingly, the first-instance court cited case law norms from the European Court of Human Rights that do not allow for continued detention at this stage of the proceedings. It listed these judicial precedents and then articulated a completely opposing stance. It is surprising how the court adopted such a position. Specifically, it indicated that in the future phases of the investigation, the likelihood of obstruction will gradually decrease, and significant arguments and evidence must be presented to justify the continued detention. However, in this case, no such data or evidence have been presented; instead, abstract, speculative assumptions have been made and included in the decision," he noted, adding that there is no witness on whom there would be a sense to exert influence at all.

During the pre-investigation, there has been interrogation only with one witness involving David Tonoyan, and according to the lawyer, the claim that there could generally be an influence on witnesses is unfounded.

“Overall, the court’s decision does not provide any specific justification. All formulations are general, expressing a uniform approach and thought regarding everyone. In doing so, it has deprived the defense of the opportunity to present specific counterarguments. Thus, this implies that David Tonoyan, if he were in freedom, would obstruct, but how he could obstruct has not been specified at all; who he could influence and for what purpose has not been substantiated,” Hovhannisyan emphasized, stressing that the entire transaction around which the criminal case revolves is documented and available in the case. It only needs to be reviewed and legally assessed; in such cases, it is not possible to obstruct the investigation by exerting influence on witnesses.

It should be noted that currently, according to the list of summoned witnesses, there are 15 witnesses, of whom Tonoyan has faced only one. A preliminary court hearing in the case of David Tonoyan and others has been scheduled for February 4. The lawyer did not rule out that they might submit a motion for disqualification of the prosecutor.